I was glad that Boro got their transfer business done early this summer - I’m not a great fan of transfer deadline day.

It’s all a bit overhyped and you see players who you have often never heard of completing last-ditch moves for artificially-inflated silly money.

I wasn’t glued all day to Sky or checking Twitter every five minutes to see who had gone where this time around, put it that way.

I do like to catch up and see what’s gone on the next day, but by and large teams have sorted out their signings across the whole of the summer rather than during a last-minute race against the clock before the window shuts.

Boro deserve every credit for doing their business early and for the sheer volume of players they have brought in.

The manager has got the team and the style of player he wanted to fit his shape and who he believes will withstand the demands of a tough Premier League season.

Only time will tell, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - the best signing of the lot looks to be Alvaro Negredo.

Jordan Rhodes (Image: Chris Vaughan/CameraSport)

He has got it all - power, workrate, tenacity and an eye for a pass and a goal.

He looks a great addition so far and I’ve been really impressed with him.

My only concern is what happens if he gets injured or hits the wall at some point during the season and he runs out of steam?

Playing up front on your own is a thankless task. It’s so physically demanding.

Negredo is ideally suited to it, but if he suddenly breaks down, do Stuani, Nugent or Rhodes fit the criteria to fill in?

Stuani has barely played down the middle, although I’m glad that Rhodes has stayed because I thought that Boro were going to allow him to leave during the window.

It’s often easier said than done bringing in quality players, but a couple of Boro ’s rivals did make some real quality signings in Wilfried Bony and Loic Remy.

Middlesbrough’s Albert Adomah

They’re a great couple of bits of business by Stoke and Boro’s next opponents, Crystal Palace.

I rate Adam Reach and Albert Adomah, so I was sorry to see them both complete deadline day exits to be honest.

It’s a pity that another North-east lad had to leave the club, but Sheffield Wednesday is a great move for Reachy.

They are ambitious and want to be in the Premier League.

And I can see young Adam going on to have a bright career in the top flight in the same way that other players who left the Boro before him have, like Chris Brunt, James Morrison and Lee Cattermole.

I liked his comment after the move went through where he said he didn’t just want to be a Premier League player and sit on the bench, he wants to play games.

He is a big, strong lad with a turn of pace and a cultured left foot.

I’m sure he will go on to do very well for himself and enjoy a bright career.

It’s just a shame that it won’t be with the Boro and he didn’t get more of a chance here.

Adomah was an experienced player to lose.

He could look great at times and average on other occasions, but I liked him.

He is a character on and off the pitch as well, which I like.

We won’t know if he would have been good enough in the long run for the Premier League, because he hardly got a chance before he left.

I don’t know enough about two of Boro’s later signings Calum Chambers and Adama Traore to make informed comments on them, because I haven’t really seem them.

Adama Traore (Image: Getty Images)

But what I will say about Traore is that he has come to a far different club in Boro to the one he was at in Aston Villa.

Villa have been in a mess and the whole mentality of the clubs is different.

Villa became accustomed to losing games galore when they got relegated, whereas Boro have had a winning culture and mindset for the last couple of years.

It’s one of the best-run clubs around with the chairman and training facilities.

Traore could be a gamble because he is inexperienced at first-team level.

But he should feel comfortable and at home being surrounded by so many other Spanish speakers at the Boro, so we should see the best of him with any luck.

You certainly can’t knock Boro’s transfer activity in the main.

Eleven senior signings is a sure statement of intent and the manager has got who he wanted so there are no excuses.

And it’s so far, so good. We can’t be anything but happy with the way that Boro have started the season.

Yes, the West Brom game was woeful as a spectacle.

I watched it in a quiet pub in Glasgow with some friends and they left me to it because they were so bored.

But you can never knock an away point.

And after an unbeaten start and five points from the opening three games, you certainly can’t knock the way Boro have started their Premier League campaign.

SAM Allardyce takes to the dugout for the first time as England manager on Sunday for a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, and I expect him to get off to a winning start.

I like Big Sam. He is straight-talking and has stood the test of time.

He will know all about how the national press works and that he won’t have been a popular appointment in some circles, but that won’t bother him.

He has got broad shoulders and will just roll his sleeves up and get on with the job.

Roy Hodgson fell apart under the pressure at the Euros, and England is a big, big assigment.

But I can’t see Allardyce doing any worse than his predecessors.

He is experienced, he is no mug.

I was as surprised as anyone to see him leave Ross Barkley out of his first England squad, but I’m sure he will get many more chances.

But no matter who is in charge of England, I think whoever the manager is, they are hampered by the current state of English football and the Premier League.

There’s just far too many foreign players in the top flight, which stifles the progress of English players coming through the ranks.

Tickets are still available for the Gary Parkinson Dinner that the Reds Football Academy coaches is arranging.

The event is aimed at raising money for former Boro defender Parky, who needs 24-hour care as a result of locked-in syndrome.

It takes place on Thursday, October 6 at Whinstone View, Great Ayton, and the Boro team of ‘86 will be there, along with a comedian, auction and raffle and hot food.

Tickets cost £25 and can be ordered online from bernieslaven.co.uk, over the phone by calling 07403 478998 or by emailing: info@redsfa.co.uk

Reds Football Academy sessions take place at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Mondays and Wednesdays (5.30pm-7.30pm), at All Saints Academy in Ingleby Barwick on Tuesdays (6pm-7pm) and at Bede College in Billingham on Fridays (5pm-6pm).